We had an awesome event today at AMF McRay Plaza lanes. The event drew 78 total entries (49 qualifying entries & 29 economy parlay entries), had 20 cashers, a 1 in 3.7 cash ratio and paid out over $3,000.00 in main and side event prizefund. The players bowled on the 43ft Dead Man's Curve oil pattern which proved to pay easier at times and harder at times. We had a very nice 300 game from Ron Schloss during our 10am squad that made it appear that the lanes weren't too tough but then our cut scores didn't really get too high, which most players being around +100 or lower. It was very clear however, that players that threw the ball alittle slower or liked to play in the middle of the lane a little bit had more success on this pattern.
This event was a great sign for feedback on our mid-season rule change regarding entering average. For those of you that don't remember, we have started using USBC's sport average conversion chart to determine every new player's entering average. This means that instead of coming in with their average from league, on house shots, their average is re-rated down to reflect their scoring potential on a sport pattern.
The reason this event was a good sign is because we had 9 new bowlers come out for this event. Since the event was just a Minor and in the summer time we have to assume that this influx is due to our entering average rule change. Additionally, we had 3 of those 9 bowlers make it to their first ever SFT AHT quarter finals today, which is also a good sign. This means that unlike under the previous rule, they had a very fair and competitive chance at doing well in the event even though it was their first event. An even more indepth statistic is that the new bowlers represented about 20% of the qualifying entries and also represented 20% of the quarter finalists! This is awesome, because it means that the same number of new members made it for how many new members bowled, compared to how many non-new members made it for how many non-new members bowled. I think the members really voted in a winner with this new rule!
Speaking of new members, we want welcome Carmine Perea, Chris Loomis, Mike McWhorter, Phat Nguyen, Grady Edwards, Krysta Larue, Michael Charles, Brian DeMatte and Antoine Wilson to the SFT AHT family! Also congrats to Grady Edwards, Phat Nguyen and Brian DeMatte on advancing to the quarter finals in their first event!
The semi-finals had #1 seed Ray Besignano vs #2 seed Cedrick Bell in the A division, #1 seed Billy Pretlove vs #2 seed Zack Huglin in the B Division, and #1 seed Brian Cail and #2 seed Ted McKay in the C division.The A and B division matches weren't too close, but the C division was! Ted and Brian were very close, and Ted had the chance to strike in the 10th to win, but instead managed nine-spare to lose by one 1 pin. The really interesting thing here is that Billy, Brian and Ray all drew the same pair for the quarter finals. This means they all bowled together, all were #1 seeds and then all won their matches to make it to the finals!
The final match was a pretty good one with Ray and Brian really going at it the entire match. Ray threw some great shots the first have of the game to get a double and three bagger and overtake Brian's handicap and the overall lead. However, Brian just kept sparing away, which was enough when Ray opened in the 9th and 10th frame to give Brian his 3rd SFT AHT title and first title in almost 2 years! He wanted it badly and deserved it! He bowled really well all day long!
Thanks to everyone for coming out and we look forward to seeing everyone at AMF Christown Lanes on Sunday, July 26th for our one day Standard event with a $1,000.00 first place prize if in the progressive pot. See you all there!
